More and more pensioners return to work: Northern Europe takes the lead

At the other extreme, Spain (18.2 per cent), Greece (20.3 per cent) and Slovenia (40.4 per cent) have the lowest figures. Italy is in the middle of the ranking, between Belgium and Romania.

'It is a phenomenon we know well,' explains Fausto Durante, secretary of CGIL Sardegna and former member of the Cnel board. Pensions are too low, so many are forced to find a second income to maintain a decent standard of living. The phenomenon concerns above all the self-employed'.

Durante also recalls an emblematic episode: 'A few months ago a man in his seventies died in an accident at work. He was working with a project contract. A drama that underlines how, for many people, the pension is not enough, and they are forced to 'do somersaults' to supplement their income'.

Hence the appeal to the institutions: 'A revision of the contribution and pension system is needed. Most pensions today do not exceed one thousand euros'.

The reasons for working after retirement are not only economic. Some want to pass on skills, others stay in the labour market to still feel part of a community, or simply because their partner is still professionally active.

In 2023, according to Eurostat, 10.2% of European pensioners aged between 50 and 74 were still employed. Among them, more than half (57%) worked part-time: a choice often necessary to balance work and health or family commitments.

A much higher percentage than for non-pensioners in the same age group (16.2%).

The national differences are marked. In Croatia, for example, 89.4% of employed pensioners work part-time, compared to just 3.4% of non-pensioners, a gap of over 86 percentage points.

This is followed by Sweden (79.2%) and Belgium (78%).

At the bottom of the ranking are Bulgaria, with only 9.2% of pensioners employed part-time, and Latvia and Lithuania, with rates of 23.2% and 19% respectively.

In Spain, returning to work after retirement is the exception rather than the rule. Only 4.9% of citizens between 50 and 74 years old continue working after receiving their pension, one of the lowest rates in the Eurozone. There are many reasons for this.

On the one hand, the Spanish pension system is among the most generous in Europe: the allowance can replace between 70% and 80% of the last salary, reducing the economic need to remain active. On the other hand, rigid legislation has historically penalised the combination of pension and work, especially for employees.

Although there are formulas such as the 'jubilación activa', which allows one to work without time limits after reaching the legal retirement age, Spanish labour culture tends to associate retirement with total retirement, with rest, and not with continuity. According to the National Institute of Statistics, only 18.8% of active post-retirement workers do so out of economic need: for the others, social reasons or personal motivations prevail, such as the fact that their spouse is still working or the desire to stay employed.

In 2024, the Czech Republic had about 195,000 employed pensioners, half of whom were over the age of 67. More than 80 per cent were regularly employed as employees, the rest worked on a contract or self-employed basis. This figure is growing steadily: according to the Czech Statistical Office, active pensioners accounted for more than 10 per cent of the labour force in 2021.

This increase was accompanied by a far-reaching pension reform, enacted at the end of 2024, which raised the retirement age, slowed down the indexation of allowances and introduced contribution exemptions for working pensioners. As of 2025, in fact, those who continue working after retirement will no longer pay social security contributions, resulting in a net benefit estimated at around EUR 52 per month for average incomes.

The government's objective is twofold: to ensure sustainability of the system and to incentivise work among the elderly by focusing on a more flexible and fiscally advantageous approach. However, there is no shortage of criticism from the opposition, which calls the reform 'a collage of measures lacking vision'.

In Greece, official statistics indicate only 50,000 working pensioners. But this figure is largely underestimated: undeclared work is historically widespread and, according to the Ministry of Labour, the real number is much higher.

In 2023, the government tried to fight evasion by abolishing the 30 per cent cut on pensions for those who work and introducing severe penalties: those who do not declare work risk a fine equal to 12 months' pension. However, contribution deductions remain high, making it unprofitable to work regularly.

For retired employees, an extra 10% deduction is added, while for the self-employed (such as doctors, lawyers or farmers) the levy can be up to 50% of gross income.

An emblematic example is that of a 68-year-old painter, formally retired but working with lower rates than his colleagues. 'I don't feel like asking the same prices,' he said, 'they have to pay contributions, I don't'. A testimony that recounts not only the widespread informality, but also the ethical and economic unease that accompanies many active pensioners in Greece.

*This article is part of the European collaborative journalism project "Pulse" and was contributed by Ana Somavilla (El Confidencial, Spain), Julie Šafová (Deník Referendum, Czech Republic), Lena Kyriakidi (Efsyn, Greece).